Floods shock the tristate

The weather during end of February and beginning of March have been crazy for the city of Cincinnati. Many along the Ohio River have been affected by flood waters. However, this is not just any flood. This year’s flood is considered the worst since the year 1997.

What caused the flood was a bunch of rain. The City of Cincinnati had been piled on with rain a week before the river crested. The highest level this flood reached was around 60.5 feet, which is the 22nd worst flood in the history of Cincinnati. The river Ohio River has crested only five times above 60 feet since 1960.

The flood has had a huge impact on the area. During the week of high waters, many streets were flooded and closed. This caused many headaches for people as they tried to get to work or school. Or if you are this person, you tried to drive through six feet of water (which did not end of well for the driver).

If you ever went down and looked at the river, it was neat thing to see. For example, I went down to the Banks downtown. The water level was all the way up to Mehring Way and even past the street into the parking lots for Paul Brown Stadium. The streets were obviously closed and a lot of people were observing the scene.

photo takne from cincinnati.com A view from the sky looking toward the Banks

Smale Park was all the way covered up at this time also. There was a popular video on twitter of this guy swimming in the water in Smale Park. In my opinion, I would not do this if someone offered me a thousand dollars to do it. The reason why I say this is because flood waters can be dangerous to the body. It can often have an unhealthy risk of chemicals and raw sewage. According to Hamilton County, The Metropolitan Sewer District has received 497 reports of backups.

One area in Cincinnati that always seems to be affected by floods is Coney Island. Coney Island is right on the Ohio River, near California, Ohio. This year, the water reached up to the amusement park causing Kellogg Avenue to be closed. The whole amusement park and Riverbend was completely under water. Other major flooding’s happened in Aurora, East End, Sharonville, New Richmond, Anderson Township, Lawrenceburg, Newport and many more locations.

Well what happens now? Cleanup. All of this flooding obviously caused major cleanup. The city of Cincinnati helped out people that need flooding recovery and resources for cleaning. They provided information on road closures, shelter, cleanup assistance, permits, flood safety tips and more.

photo taken from cincinnati.com A view of Sawyer Point from the sky

Cincinnati firefighters hit the streets in California. They went door-to-door to check on residents devastated by the floods. The Cincinnati Red Cross has also reached out and helped those effected.

City Manager Harry Black said that 1,000 structures in the city have been effected by flooding from Coney Island to Sayler Park. They are not sure how much the damage will be but it is likely going to be a high total.

At the end of the day, anyone who saw the river witnessed history. As mentioned earlier, a flood like this has not happened since 1997. No student at Elder was not even alive during that time. It has truly been a cool experience to witness history in our city.